1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein is a toy automobile, configured as a "dragster," being self-propelled by an onboard drive means. The vehicle is provided with a line engaging guide for receiving a guide line that the vehicle will follow as it speeds along in competition with another similar vehicle. The means of propulsion can be one of several means but in the preferred embodiment will be an elastic cord, for instance, a rubber band that is wound up and ultimately unwound to drive the vehicle through various drive means including an angle drive gear in the rear axle of the vehicle. The invention also includes a guide line mounted means for interacting with the vehicle to trigger the deployment of a vehicle carried element.
2. Background Information
Numerous toy vehicles exist in the art. The particulars of the vehicle presented herein includes a combination of features that have not, to my knowledge, been put together in a similar way in the vehicles existing in the market today. The three major elements incorporated in the invention are: 1) a guide line that the vehicle will follow during its "run," 2) a trip mechanism on the guide line that causes a responsive action on the vehicle, and 3) a rubber band or bungie cord energy storage means that is used to provide the potential energy which, when released, will propel the vehicle along the guide line at a rapid velocity. Several other elements are included in the assemblage of the toy vehicle as will be discussed in the detailed description of the invention.
The prior art in this field would include various line guided vehicles that are designed to follow the guide line along a straight path. The vehicle would be self-propelled and have only a limited, as opposed to an extended, running time. One such toy would be carbon dioxide powered "rockets," sometimes played with by groups of children under the supervision of parents or group leaders. The rocket toy starts out as a wooden block, usually pine, having a cavity for accommodating a carbon dioxide cartridge. The block is carved, whittled, sanded and otherwise shaped by the child into a design that the child (and oftentimes the child's parent) believes to be a desirable shape. The completed rocket is then fitted with a pair of guide line engaging elements ("screw eyes") that will receive the guide line before the rocket is launched. Usually the rocket is used in competition against the creation of another child. Side-by-side guide lines are set up so that one rocket can match race the rocket of the other child. The carbon dioxide cylinders of the competitor's creations are simultaneously discharged and the projectiles accelerate down their respective guide lines reaching a maximum velocity then, at some point, are stopped by an obstacle at the end of the guide line--usually a padded barrier of some type. The first projectile to reach the barrier is declared the winner of the match race.
It is expected that there are gravity propelled rocket vehicles of the type described above with the difference being that the carbon dioxide cartridge is not used. The projectile is simply let go or launched at a higher elevation than the finish line elevation of the guide line.
The invention present herein is not a line guided toy rocket but is an invention in the exciting world of wheeled vehicles.
In this art, the art of wheeled toys, the most typical embodiments of toy cars are those that are either steerable vehicles, such as the very sophisticated radio controlled cars, or the less sophisticated cars guided by a slot and pin arrangement. Gravity powered toy cars run in tracks with upstanding curbs to contact the toy car's tires and keep the car on the track. The toy car presented here is unique in that it is line guided, self-propelled by means other than gravity and includes a feature, the feature of a guide line mounted triggering device, to interface with apparatus carried by the vehicle. The device on the vehicle that is triggered by the line mounted triggering device could be one or more of several things, but in a preferred embodiment is a "drag chute" carried on the vehicle and released by the triggering device as the vehicle crosses a finish line.